New York – Israeli Charged In New York Over Alleged Kiryas Joel Kidnapping Plot

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    New York – An Israeli citizen who serves as a divorce mediator within an Orthodox Jewish community in New York has been arrested and charged with conspiring to kidnap a man who had refused to grant his wife a religious divorce.

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    Binyamin Gottlieb, 33, was arrested by the FBI at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sunday as he prepared to board a Ukraine-bound flight, four days after charges were announced against an Israeli rabbi and another man over the same alleged scheme.

    Those men, Aharon Goldberg, an Israel-based rabbi, and Shimen Liebowitz, a member of Satmar Hasidic community in Kiryas Joel, New York, were accused of conspiring to kidnap and murder the intended victim.

    Prosecutors said a source, an Orthodox Jew who provided investigative services, contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation in July after being recruited by Goldberg and Liebowitz to kidnap a Brooklyn man.

    The kidnapping was intended to have the man issue a “get,” a document that would grant his wife a religious divorce, prosecutors said.

    A criminal complaint said that at a July meeting, they discussed options including a suggestion by Gottlieb to kidnap the man in Ukraine, where he planned to go for the Jewish New Year in late September, and then flying him to Israel.

    Authorities said that after that meeting, Gottlieb, an Israeli citizen who lives in Monsey, New York, gave $25,000 in cash to the source as payment.

    In later meetings, Goldberg and Liebowitz discussed their desire to kidnap and kill the Brooklyn man, the complaint said.

    Jacob Laufer, Gottlieb’s lawyer, argued in court on Monday that his client, a self-employed divorce mediator, was at the “periphery” of the case, and should be released on a $2.5 million bond.

    But Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Hartman said Gottlieb was “intimately involved,” and that evidence suggested he may have engaged in similar plots involving forced divorces.

    “This wasn’t Mr. Gottlieb’s first rodeo,” he said.

    At a hearing on Monday, U.S. Magistrate James Cott denied Gottlieb bail, calling him a flight risk and saying he was “very concerned” by the kidnapping allegations.

    Laufer declined to comment after the hearing. Susan Necheles, a lawyer for Liebowitz, said the informant “is a person who is totally incredible.” A lawyer for Goldberg did not respond to a request for comment.


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    14 Comments
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    ALTERG3
    ALTERG3
    7 years ago

    Why you calling this musir levin orthodox jew? Btw they didnt had any plan to kidnap, this musir just offerd them this plan & he have even got $25k & then gave them over, he will get his punishment from god.

    7 years ago

    Hopefully this incident and epstein will put an end to the era of forcing men to give gitten via force. To the aguna advocates, till you also advocate for the men agunas please don’t jump to conclusions. Who is a man aguna? A man who gets his children ripped out from under his arm with no control or way of fighting back. But wait why not just take his ex to court? Firstly the courts always automatically assume te mom has full rights by default. Second and more importantly, say the mother just plays games. So when its dad’s legal turn to have the kid for shabbos, the child sneezes the wrong way and mom says oh you have a cold and you can’t go to dad. How will you enforce that? These are the kinds of games moms play all day torturing the husband.

    7 years ago

    Does someone who is hardly central to the case need a bond of $2.5 million? My armchair review of this report suggests that even his lawyer knows he is a seriously convictable person, and bond of $2.5 million is reasonable.

    7 years ago

    These men earned millions of dollars from poor yidden also who borrowed gelt to pay for a get. Throw away the key.

    Sholi-Katz
    Sholi-Katz
    7 years ago

    After the last episode, didn’t they realize that is not what you do. Why risk 10 years in jail???
    The whole silly thing about this, is the so called ‘Rabbonim” can change this whole shenanigan. Just make it universal to write a “prenuptial agreement” that if they get a civil divorce, the man has to give a Jewish divorce. At that point a Judge can force a husband to give the Jewish GET. Take a look at an English translation of the Kesubah, it is a just a prenuptial agreement. The smart Rabbonim of antiquity wanted to make sure the wife can’t just be dumped (at that time the Zochor could take 5-10 no problem) The Rambam says he can even marry all of them under one Chuppa at the same time. Today that would be extremely difficult once we moved from superstition to a “minhag” where the woman goes around the husband 7 times – try 10 wives at the same time. (I know it protects the husband – just search the original)
    So, then what is the reason we don’t solve this problem once in for all, is that the ones who can solve this happen to be Zichorim, and they don’t want woman equal to them. Imagine if it was the other way around, the so called “Rabbonim” would of have this solved in hours.

    uberchochom
    uberchochom
    7 years ago

    Susan Necheles, a lawyer for Liebowitz, said the informant “is a person who is totally incredible.”
    I guess the prosecutor can rest his case now. No need for a trial.

    Normal
    Normal
    7 years ago

    And we wonder why our youth are freing out. And why goyim hate us. How hard is to enforce something so guys give their wives gittin. Don’t allow them in any shule in the world. Don’t talk to them. Laugh at them. Annoy them. Point them out wherever they go and scream at them. Try it once and let me know. But that would take our leaders making a stand and actually doing something and people to have a little backbone. O well, back to kidnapping.

    Meloah
    Meloah
    7 years ago

    One thing I tell you, is that if you opt to do something wrong, you are likely to repeat it and eventually will get caught.

    Don’t think nobody will see or know about it, as eventually you will be caught!

    7 years ago

    Define “misandrist”.

    All I said was be fair. realize that it takes two.

    COMPASSion
    COMPASSion
    7 years ago

    Men, just because women can act like animals too is still not reason enough to withhold a get. A woman, no matter how much of an animal she is, does not have that power. This is not a level playing field, in which a man can hold a woman chained but she cannot do the same. Just because the Torah gave you that right in a time where women were treated like chattel doesn’t mean you should abuse that right. Women are not considered property anymore, sorry.

    Fight in the court system, by all means. If a woman treats her husband badly, she deserves an uphill battle. But there should never ever be an excuse for withholding a get.